General Assembly>Division of Legislative Services>Publications>Session Summaries>2008>Public Service Companies


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Public Service Companies

Passed

P HB543

Natural gas utilities; alternative ratemaking plan. Authorizes any natural gas utility to file a conservation and ratemaking efficiency plan that includes (i) a normalization component that removes the effect of weather from the determination of conservation and energy efficiency results, (ii) a decoupling mechanism, (iii) cost-effective conservation and energy efficiency programs, (iv) provisions to address the needs of low-income or low-usage residential consumers, and (v) provisions to ensure that the rates and service to nonparticipating classes of customers are not adversely impacted. Such plans may include one or more residential, small commercial, or small general service classes, but shall not apply to large commercial or large industrial customer classes. The State Corporation Commission (SCC) is required to allow a utility that implements a plan to recover, through its regulated rates, its costs, together with a return thereon, associated with cost-effective conservation and energy efficiency programs. Utilities that demonstrate certain reductions in annualized, weather-normalized usage per customer will receive the opportunity to earn an incentive of up to 15 percent share of the independently verified net economic benefits created by the conservation and energy efficiency programs. The SCC is prohibited from reducing a utility's profit as a result of the implementation of a natural gas conservation and ratemaking efficiency plan. The SCC is required to report annually on the implementation of the measure.
Patron - Nixon

P HB546

Multiline telephone systems. Provides that an alternative method of providing call location information exists when a 9-1-1 call to a public safety answering point (PSAP) provides sufficient information to ensure that emergency responders are dispatched to a location at the facility from which the call was placed, where the responders are able to view all of the telephone stations in the contiguous area containing the telephone from which the emergency call was placed. Currently, an alternative method requires responders to be able to view all of the telephone stations at the facility. MLTS providers of a system using VOIP services acquired or installed on or after July 1, 2009, shall make reasonable efforts to ensure that emergency calls provide calling party information to the 9-1-1 network or an alternative method of providing call location information. The measure also provides that the MLTS provider of a multiline telephone system acquired or installed on or after July 1, 2009, is required, if reasonably achievable, to be able to provide calling party information to the 9-1-1 network that connects to the PSAP, or to provide an alternative method of providing call location information. Calling party information allows equipment at the PSAP to perform automatic location identification (ALI) and automatic number identification (ANI). MLTS providers are required to arrange to update the ALI database with the appropriate master street address guide, valid address and callback information corresponding to the calling party information for each telephone station, and to update the information as soon as practicable for new MLTS installation or within one business day of record completion of the actual changes for previously installed systems. Currently, such providers are required to ensure that emergency calls provide either ALI and ANI or an alternative method of providing call location information.
Patron - Nixon

P HB627

PPTA. Requires, for projects undertaken under the Public-Private Transportation Act of 1995 (PPTA) that have an estimated construction cost in excess of $50 million, the responsible private entity to pay the costs for an independent audit of any and all traffic and cost estimates associated with the private entity's proposal, as well as a review of all public costs and potential liabilities to which taxpayers could be exposed. This independent audit must be conducted by an independent consultant selected by the responsible public entity, and all information from the review must be fully disclosed.
Patron - May

P HB677

Public-Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act of 2002; public hearing prior to interim or comprehensive agreement. Provides that at least 30 days prior to entering into an interim or comprehensive agreement under the Public-Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act, a responsible public entity must hold a public hearing on the proposals. Currently a responsible public entity is required to provide an opportunity for public comment, which may include a public hearing at the sole discretion of the responsible public entity.
Patron - Plum

P HB955

Public-Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act of 2002; technology projects; gain sharing. Adds to the categories of "qualifying project" under the Public-Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act of 2002 (PPEA) any services designed to increase productivity or efficiency through the direct or indirect use of technology. The bill also adds technology applications to the types of technology infrastructure projects that may be carried out under the PPEA. This bill is identical to Senate Bill 352.
Patron - Nixon

P HB1140

Virginia Highway Corporation Act; authority of SCC. Directs the State Corporation Commission (SCC), in setting tolls under the Virginia Highway Corporation Act of 1988 during the period January 1, 2013, through January 1, 2013, to approve requests to increase toll rates by a percentage that (i) is equal to the increase in the consumer price index from the date the Commission law approved a toll increase, plus one percent, (ii) is equal to the increase in the real gross domestic product from the date the Commission last approved a toll increase, or (iii) 2.8 percent, whichever is greatest. In addition, the SCC shall allow the operator to include, in its tolls, the amount by which its local property taxes paid in the immediately preceding calendar year increased by more than the annual percentage increase above such payments for the previous calendar year. The SCC may allow a greater increase in the tolls if the operator provides an independent grade traffic and revenue study and a finding by the operator that (a) the toll rates will not be sufficient to permit the operator to maintain the minimum coverage ratio set forth in the rate covenant provisions of its bond indenture or similar credit agreement, (b) such greater proposed tolls are reasonable to the user in relation to the benefit obtained and will not materially discourage use of the roadway by the public, and (c) the greater proposed tolls provide the operator no more than a reasonable rate of return; however, the Commission shall not approve an increase that exceeds the percentage increase necessary to permit the operator to maintain the minimum coverage ratio, and such request shall not be made as a result of a change in control of the operator or the project roadway. Other provisions (i) direct the SCC, in determining whether the operator's costs are improper or excessive, to consider the contractual relationships between the operator and individuals or entities that are closely associated or affiliated with the operator to assure that the terms on such contractual relationships are no less favorable or unfavorable to the operator than what it could obtain in an arm's-length transaction; (ii) require the operator to provide a verified copy of its annual audited financial statements; (iii) require the SCC, when there is a change in the ownership of an operator, to ensure in any subsequent toll rate proceeding that the price paid in connection with the change in ownership or control, and any costs and other factors attributable to or resulting from the change in ownership or control, if they would contribute to an increase in the level of the toll, are excluded from the Commission's determination of the operator's reasonable return; and (iv) direct that the proceeds and funding provided to the operator from any future bond indenture or similar credit agreement must be used for certain purposes related to the roadway property, unless otherwise authorized by the SCC. SB 778 is identical.
Patron - May

P HB1228

Electric utilities; notice of renewable power options. Requires each investor-owned electric utility in the Commonwealth, effective January 1, 2009, to include in its customer's bills, at least once each quarter, a notice directing customers to a toll-free telephone number or Internet website that will provide information on options to purchase electric energy provided from renewable energy sources. The notice shall include instructions for purchasing electric energy from renewable sources from the utility or other licensed supplier of electric energy. Such utilities are also required to feature available options for purchasing electricity from renewable sources prominently on their Internet sites.
Patron - Vanderhye

P HB1319

Underground transmission lines; pilot program. Establishes a pilot program for the placement of four new transmission lines of 230 kilovolts or less to be placed underground, either in whole or in part. The bill establishes criteria for the State Corporation Commission to consider and procedures for the Commission to follow in selecting the projects. One of the projects shall be for a transmission line that has received Commission approval prior to the effective date of the act. If a qualifying project provides radial rather than networked electric service, a presumption of need is created in applications for transmission lines that will complete the network.
Patron - May

P HB1413

Public utilities; competitive bidding. Requires public utilities that are subject to annual review provisions of Title 56 to use competitive bidding in purchasing and construction practices. Currently, only utilities subject to the biennial review provisions of Title 56 are subject to the competitive bidding requirement.
Patron - Plum

P HB1523

Electric utility planning. Requires electric utilities to submit, by September 1, 2009, an integrated resource plan (IRP) that provides a forecast of its load obligations and a plan to meet those obligations by supply side and demand side resources over the ensuing 15 years to provide reasonable prices, reliable service, energy independence, and environmental responsibility. Updated IRPs will be filed every two years thereafter. The 2009 IRPs shall include an assessment of programs to assist low income residential consumers.
Patron - Orrock

P SB145

Natural gas utilities; recovery of capital costs. Establishes a mechanism for a natural gas utility that places a strategic natural gas facility into service on or after July 1, 2008, to recover the entire prudently incurred costs of the facility from the time construction is completed and the asset is placed in service until the State Corporation Commission establishes new rates. Recovery of these costs, which include an allowance for funds used during construction, shall be permitted by allowing the costs to be recorded in the utility's plant accounts and included in rate base for purposes of cost recovery in new rate schedules, in a rate base using the cost of service methodology, or in a performance-based regulation plan. Recovery shall be subject to Commission determination that the costs were prudently incurred. The measure neither authorizes nor denies the recovery of costs submitted to the Commission prior to January 1, 2008, where such costs were the subject of a final order that determined whether the costs were prudently incurred and provided for their accounting and ratemaking treatment.
Patron - Stosch

P SB311

Electric utility planning. Requires electric utilities to submit, by September 1, 2009, an integrated resource plan (IRP) that provides a forecast of their load obligations and a plan to meet those obligations by supply side and demand side resources over the ensuing 15 years to provide reasonable prices, reliable service, energy independence, and environmental responsibility. Updated IRPs will be filed every two years thereafter. The 2009 IRPs shall include an assessment of programs to assist low income residential consumers. The bill also deletes an inconsistent existing requirement that utilities file plans for their projected generation and transmission requirements to serve native load for the next 10 years.
Patron - Reynolds

P SB322

Renewable energy source. Defines municipal solid waste as a source of renewable energy under the Virginia Electric Utility Restructuring Act.
Patron - Wagner

P SB352

Public Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act of 2002; technology projects; gain sharing. Adds to the categories of "qualifying project" under the Public Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act of 2002 (PPEA) any services designed to increase productivity or efficiency through the direct or indirect use of technology. The bill also adds technology applications to the types of technology infrastructure projects that may be carried out under the PPEA. This bill is identical to HB 955.
Patron - Stosch

P SB596

Commission on Electric Utility Regulation. Continues the Commission on Electric Utility Restructuring as the Commission on Electric Utility Regulation and extends its scheduled expiration from July 1, 2008, until July 1, 2010. The Electric Utility Restructuring Act is renamed the Electric Utility Regulation Act, and provisions of the Act that address the transition to retail competition are revised to address provisions of 2007 legislation that curtailed many aspects of the scheduled re-regulation of electric generation services. SB 575 is incorporated into this bill.
Patron - Norment

P SB778

Virginia Highway Corporation Act; authority of SCC. Directs the State Corporation Commission (SCC), in setting tolls under the Virginia Highway Corporation Act of 1988 during the period January 1, 2013, through January 1, 2013, to approve requests to increase toll rates by a percentage that (i) is equal to the increase in the consumer price index from the date the Commission law approved a toll increase, plus one percent, (ii) is equal to the increase in the real gross domestic product from the date the Commission last approved a toll increase, or (iii) 2.8 percent, whichever is greatest. In addition, the SCC shall allow the operator to include, in its tolls, the amount by which its local property taxes paid in the immediately preceding calendar year increased by more than the annual percentage increase above such payments for the previous calendar year. The SCC may allow a greater increase in the tolls if the operator provides an independent grade traffic and revenue study and a finding by the operator that (a) the toll rates will not be sufficient to permit the operator to maintain the minimum coverage ratio set forth in the rate covenant provisions of its bond indenture or similar credit agreement, (b) such greater proposed tolls are reasonable to the user in relation to the benefit obtained and will not materially discourage use of the roadway by the public, and (c) the greater proposed tolls provide the operator no more than a reasonable rate of return; however, the Commission shall not approve an increase that exceeds the percentage increase necessary to permit the operator to maintain the minimum coverage ratio, and such request shall not be made as a result of a change in control of the operator or the project roadway. Other provisions (i) direct the SCC, in determining whether the operator's costs are improper or excessive, to consider the contractual relationships between the operator and individuals or entities that are closely associated or affiliated with the operator to assure that the terms on such contractual relationships are no less favorable or unfavorable to the operator than what it could obtain in an arm's-length transaction; (ii) require the operator to provide a verified copy of its annual audited financial statements; (iii) require the SCC, when there is a change in the ownership of an operator, to ensure in any subsequent toll rate proceeding that the price paid in connection with the change in ownership or control, and any costs and other factors attributable to or resulting from the change in ownership or control, if they would contribute to an increase in the level of the toll, are excluded from the Commission's determination of the operator's reasonable return; and (iv) direct that the proceeds and funding provided to the operator from any future bond indenture or similar credit agreement must be used for certain purposes related to the roadway property, unless otherwise authorized by the SCC. HB 1140 is identical.
Patron - Herring

Failed

F HB106

Utility Transfers Act; telephone companies. Eliminates the requirement that the State Corporation Commission approve the acquisition or disposal of the assets or of control of a telephone company. The measure will not apply to transactions for which applications seeking Commission approval were filed prior to July 1, 2008.
Patron - Kilgore

F HB153

Solar water heating system pay-as-you-save pilot program. Directs the State Corporation Commission to analyze, and if appropriate, to establish, a pilot program whereby residential customers who install a solar water heating system will be able to pay for the system as an item on their monthly electricity bill. Participation in the pilot program would be voluntary. Participating electric utilities will be required to submit proposed tariffs to provide for their recovery of the costs of the systems over a term not to exceed 75 percent of the expected life of the system, in monthly amounts that are less than the expected reductions in the consumer's electricity bill expected to result from the installation of the system.
Patron - Poisson

F HB646

Electrical transmission lines; State Corporation Commission review. Requires the State Corporation Commission, when verifying the applicant's load flow modeling, contingency analyses, and reliability needs presented to justify a new electrical transmission line, to assume (i) participation in the renewable portfolio standard program and achievement of its goals, (ii) the maximum effective conservation of energy used by public utilities, and (iii) full compliance with the energy consumption requirements for federal buildings. The measure also requires the applicant to provide the Commission with such information as it requires to make the verification.
Patron - Hogan

F HB665

Utility Transfers Act; cooperatives to be held harmless. Requires the State Corporation Commission to find, prior to approving a distribution cooperative's application for approval of the acquisition of another utility, that the acquisition will not cause the rates of another distribution cooperative to increase. However, the Commission may approve the application if the petitioning cooperative agrees to hold harmless the other cooperatives from any increase in rates. In addition, the measure authorizes the Commission to adjust the rates of a distribution cooperative that received approval of an acquisition between July 1, 2007, and July 1, 2008, to provide for the collection of contributions sufficient to hold the other distribution cooperatives harmless for cost increases resulting from the approval of the application.
Patron - Marshall, R.G.

F HB666

Utility Transfers Act; investor-owned electric utilities. Prohibits the State Corporation Commission from approving an application by an investor-owned electric utility that was, as of July 1, 1999, bound by a rate case settlement adopted by the Commission that extended in its application beyond January 1, 2002, for authority to acquire assets or securities of an electric utility that divested its generation assets with approval of the Commission pursuant to § 56-590 prior to January 1, 2002, if the acquisition is likely to result in an increase in the rates of any investor-owned electric utility.
Patron - Marshall, R.G.

F HB1153

Electric utilities; notice of rate increase. Requires electric utilities to give 90 days' written notice of any rate increase.
Patron - Phillips

F HB1287

State Corporation Commission; energy conservation. Directs the State Corporation Commission to conduct a proceeding in which it shall consider the establishment of electric energy conservation goals that provide for increasing efficiency for electric energy usage and reducing the rate of growth of the consumption of electric energy while sustaining economic growth in the Commonwealth.
Patron - Athey

F HB1412

Railroad corporations; foreign control. Prohibits a foreign person or group of persons from acquiring or attempting to acquire control of any railroad that is a public service corporation, or of any person controlling a railroad that is a public service corporation, without the approval of the State Corporation Commission. The Commission shall approve the application if it determines that, after the change in control, the railroad can reasonably be expected to discharge its public service responsibilities and that the change of control would not be inconsistent with the public interest served by the railroad.
Patron - Kilgore

F HB1515

Public-Private Transportation Act; tolls on Interstate 81. Provides that a private entity may not impose tolls under the Public-Private Transportation Act on passenger cars, pickup or panel trucks, and motorcycles if the qualified transportation facility is Interstate Route 81. This bill was incorporated into HB 1516.
Patron - Gilbert

F HB1531

Liability for injury to employee. Establishes duties of railroad operators with respect to members of an operating crew involved in an accident resulting in loss of life or serious bodily injury.
Patron - Ebbin

F SB21

Electric utility rates; margins from off-system sales. Eliminates the requirement that 75 percent of the total annual margins from an electric utility's off-system sales of power be credited against the utility's fuel factor expenses, in the absence of a finding by clear and convincing evidence that a smaller percentage is in the public interest. The measure provides that the State Corporation Commission shall determine the percentage of such margins to be credited against fuel factor expenses that is in the public interest.
Patron - Reynolds

F SB91

Electricity rates; adjustment clauses. Provides the State Corporation Commission with authority to review the recovery by electric utilities of certain expenses that will be recoverable under current law through rate adjustment clauses. The utility expenses will instead be subject to review as part of the biennial rate review of the utility's total revenues and expenses. Items that are scheduled to be recoverable through rate adjustment clauses include (i) costs for transmission services; (ii) deferred environmental and reliability costs; (iii) costs of providing incentives for the utility to design and operate fair and effective demand-management, conservation, energy efficiency, and load management programs; (iv) costs of participation in the renewable energy portfolio standard program; (v) costs of projects that the SCC finds to be necessary to comply with state or federal environmental laws or regulations applicable to generation facilities used to serve the utility's native load obligations, and (vi) costs of certain generation projects, including Dominion's proposed coal-fired plant in Southwest Virginia. Provisions that limit the SCC's discretion regarding any incentive return for new generation facilities are repealed.
Patron - Reynolds

F SB93

Electric utility restructuring. Repeals provisions of the Electric Utility Restructuring Act that established parameters for the rate of return to be earned by certain electric utilities, recovery of certain expenses, and incentives for constructing new generation facilities and meeting voluntary renewable energy targets. The measure reinstitutes traditional cost-of-service ratemaking principles for such utilities, effective January 1, 2009.
Patron - Reynolds

F SB420

Locally operated telephone utilities; cable service. Provides that a county, city, or town that has obtained a certificate to operate a telephone utility and that installed a cable television headend prior to December 31, 2002, is authorized to operate a cable television system or other multi-channel video programming service throughout the area in which it is authorized to operate telephone service. Currently, such localities are permitted to provide such services, but the areas wherein such services may be provided by the locality is not defined.
Patron - Puckett

F SB431

Underground location of transmission lines. Requires a utility seeking State Corporation Commission approval for an extension of an existing electrical transmission line or the construction of a new line to submit to the Commission a plan to install the line underground. Hearings on the application would be held after the Commission has reviewed the plan. The Commission shall condition its approval of an application upon the utility's agreement to install the line underground if underground installation is technologically feasible.
Patron - Vogel

F SB432

Electrical transmission lines; damages to adjoining landowners. Entitles owners of lands located adjacent to lands that are acquired by an electric utility for the route of certain electrical transmission lines to be compensated for any damage to their property, including any diminution in its value resulting from the construction and operation of the transmission line.
Patron - Vogel

F SB446

Clean energy future. Requires that by the year commencing July 1, 2020, and in subsequent years, 20% of the electric energy sold by each supplier to retail customers in the Commonwealth be generated from renewable generation energy sources, and that each supplier achieve reductions in the consumption of electric energy by its retail customers, through the supplier's implementation of energy efficiency programs, in an amount equal to 10% of the amount of electric energy consumed by its retail customers in 2007. The requirements are phased in over a period commencing July 1, 2008. The 20% requirement for renewable generation energy sources is comprised of three categories of renewable energy sources, each of which has separate percentage requirements. Generators of renewable energy receive renewable energy credits for power generated through eligible renewable sources or conserved through energy efficiency programs. Suppliers who do not comply with the minimum percentage requirements are required to make alternative compliance payments into a new Virginia Sustainable Energy Fund. Distributors are authorized to recover incremental costs of compliance under the procedure for recovery of the costs of purchased power. Electric cooperatives and municipal electric utilities are exempted from the measure. Generators of eligible renewable energy using certain components manufactured within the Commonwealth receive double the amount of renewable energy credits. The Secretary of Commerce and Trade is directed to develop incentives for renewable energy manufacturing in the coalfield region of Virginia. The measure also (i) creates a Clean Energy Fund and (ii) establishes a commercial in-state production tax credit of 0.06 cents per kWh for solar photovoltaic energy and 0.03 cents per kWh for wind energy. Finally, Secretary of Commerce and Trade is directed to develop a Green Jobs program that will provide training for workers in new industries relating to the field of alternative energies, including the manufacture and operation of products used to generate electricity and other forms of energy from alternative sources.
Patron - Petersen

F SB541

Electrical transmission lines; State Corporation Commission review. Requires the State Corporation Commission, when verifying the applicant's load flow modeling, contingency analyses, and reliability needs presented to justify a new electrical transmission line, to assume (i) participation in the renewable portfolio standard program and achievement of its goals, (ii) the maximum effective conservation of energy used by public utilities, and (iii) full compliance with the energy consumption requirements for federal buildings. The measure also requires the applicant to provide the Commission with such information as it requires to make the verification.
Patron - Obenshain

F SB572

Utility Transfers Act; telephone companies. Eliminates the requirement that the State Corporation Commission approve the acquisition or disposal of the assets or of control of a telephone company. The measure will not apply to transactions for which applications seeking Commission approval were filed prior to July 1, 2008.
Patron - Saslaw

F SB575

Commission on Electric Utility Regulation. Renames the Commission on Electric Utility Restructuring as the Commission on Electric Utility Regulation, extends its scheduled expiration from July 1, 2008, until July 1, 2010, and states that its purposes is to work collaboratively with the State Corporation Commission in conjunction with the implementation of the Virginia Electric Utility Restructuring Act. This bill is incorporated into SB 596.
Patron - Saslaw

F SB666

Utility Transfers Act. Provides that a person shall not acquire or dispose of control of a public utility, or all of its assets, or a telephone company, in whole or in part, without prior approval of the State Corporation Commission.
Patron - Edwards

F SB753

Public-Private Transportation Act; tolls on Interstate 81. Provides that a private entity may not impose tolls under the Public-Private Transportation Act on passenger cars, pickup or panel trucks, and motorcycles if the qualified transportation facility is Interstate Route 81.
Patron - Obenshain

Carried Over

C HB545

Alternatives to regulation of telephone service. Declares that all telephone services, other than lifeline and E-911 services, offered by a telephone company are competitive. Increases in monthly charges for residential dialtone telephone service are capped at $1.50 per 12-month period through July 1, 2011, though the State Corporation Commission may extend this cap for up to an additional 24 months if the Commission finds that competition or the potential for competition in the market place cannot be an effective regulator of its price. The Commission is required to establish rules to permit any telephone company to detariff telephone services offered to (i) business customers, other than E-911 services, beginning no later January 1, 2009, and (ii) residential customers, other than lifeline services, beginning no later than January 1, 2010. Prior to detariffing its telephone services, a telephone company may offer promotional rates, terms, or conditions and individual customer pricing for its telephone services in accordance with the Commission's rules for competitive local exchange carriers. Lifeline or E-911 services may be detariffed when the Commission determines that their tariffing is no longer required to protect the public interest. Telephone companies offering competitive telephone services under these provisions are exempted from Commission oversight of their issuance of securities and affiliate transactions.
Patron - Nixon

C HB1310

Provisional certification of gas distributors. Authorizes the State Corporation Commission to grant a provisional certificate of public convenience and necessity that allows an entity to distribute natural gas, propane, propane-air mixtures, or other gas service in a designated area, within the certificated service territory of a natural gas utility, where natural gas distribution service is not currently offered.
Patron - Morgan

C HB1409

Electric utility rates; incentives for the use of alternatives and distributed generation. Directs the State Corporation Commission to promulgate regulations requiring electric utilities to offer electric service to nonresidential customers under a tariff that encourages the use of alternative energy sources or supplies and distributed generation. Permissible incentives may include permitting the customer to recover investments in alternative energy sources or supplies and distributed generation, and that by allow the customer and utility to avoid peak prices, demand charges and congestion charges during periods of high system demand.
Patron - Poindexter

C SB324

Utility Facilities Act; renewable energy facilities. Excludes from the definition of a public utility any company if it is not organized as a public service company and if it generates and distributes renewable electric energy from a small generation facility of not more than 50 megawatts. The measure exempts such companies from the requirements of the Utility Facilities Act.
Patron - Wagner

C SB449

PPTA; competitive bidding. Requires that all facets of any project having an aggregate value in excess of $1 billion undertaken pursuant to the Public-Private Transportation Act of 1995 (PPTA) will be subject to all the laws of the Commonwealth requiring competitive bidding.
Patron - Petersen

C SB571

Alternatives to regulation of telephone service. Declares that all telephone services, other than lifeline and E-911 services, offered by a telephone company are competitive. Increases in monthly charges for residential dialtone telephone service are capped at $1.50 per 12-month period through July 1, 2011, though the State Corporation Commission may extend this cap for up to an additional 24 months if the Commission finds that competition or the potential for competition in the market place cannot be an effective regulator of its price. The Commission is required to establish rules to permit any telephone company to detariff telephone services offered to (i) business customers, other than E-911 services, beginning no later January 1, 2009, and (ii) residential customers, other than lifeline services, beginning no later than January 1, 2010. Prior to detariffing its telephone services, a telephone company may offer promotional rates, terms, or conditions and individual customer pricing for its telephone services in accordance with the Commission's rules for competitive local exchange carriers. Lifeline or E-911 services may be detariffed when the Commission determines that their tariffing is no longer required to protect the public interest. Telephone companies offering competitive telephone services under these provisions are exempted from Commission oversight of their issuance of securities and affiliate transactions.
Patron - Saslaw

C SB719

Railroad corporations; foreign control. Prohibits a foreign person or group of persons from acquiring or attempting to acquire control of any railroad that is a public service corporation, or of any person controlling a railroad that is a public service corporation, without the approval of the State Corporation Commission. The Commission shall approve the application if it determines that, after the change in control, the railroad can reasonably be expected to discharge its public service responsibilities and that the change of control would not be inconsistent with the public interest served by the railroad.
Patron - Puller

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